Lawn mowing phenom lands his own ride
Published 10:25 pm Friday, July 1, 2016
During the summer, when most 11-year-old boys are sitting on a couch engrossed with playing video games or swimming with their friends at the neighborhood pool, Dylan Wallace is outside cutting grass.
“My grandparents put me on a lawn mower when I was younger, and I started to like it,” he said.
In fact, Dylan enjoys cutting grass so much, after making the All-A Honor Roll at Beechwood Elementary School this spring his family bought him his own Toro lawnmower.
Proud of the shiny red grass cutter, Dylan pointed out his mower was a front wheel drive model that was guaranteed to start.
“When we would go to Home Depot, you could always find Dylan in the lawn mower section checking out the mowers,” grandmother Faye Thomas said.
Dylan has been cutting grass since he was six, Thomas said, and she thought his interest in lawn mowers may have been initiated while helping out his grandfather in his backyard workshop.
“When he was a little boy, my husband would ask him (Dylan) to bring him a wrench, and he learned at an early age about mechanics,” she said.
In addition to enjoying cutting grass, Thomas said her grandson is also very proficient with the job.
“Dylan is very meticulous when he is doing yard work, and likes to keep everything tidy,” she said.
He even washes off the mower when he is finished cutting.
In addition to his push mowing skills, Dylan said he also like to use his grandfather’s zero turn lawn mower.
“It’s a lot of fun and my mind is free and easy while riding,” Dylan said.
His grandmother said it took him about two years to sharpen his skills on the zero turn mower, but he drives it now like a professional.
Dylan said he has thought about going to college and studying landscape architecture, since he also likes digging in the dirt and planting flowers, but for now he is just happy to cut grass.